The U.S. Small Business Administration and the U.S Department of Defense announced a new collaborative initiative to create the Small Business Investment Company Critical Technologies Initiative. This program is designed to help stimulate the growth of new technologies that can be critical to U.S. national security.
SBA Administrator Guzman and Defense Secretary Austin gathered at Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California, to announce the new initiative as a way of growing the longstanding relationship between the SBA and DoD.
SBA Administrator Guzman said, “SBA and DoD’s new historic initiative will help make sure America maintains its edge in technologies critical to national security. DoD’s newly established Office of Strategic Capital will leverage SBA’s expertise and successes aligning and scaling public and private capital through its Small Business Investment Company program to address funding gaps in the innovation ecosystem.”
To begin this partnership a new financial tool will be introduced called the Accrual Debenture. This will help the cash flow patterns of startups and maintain the long amount of time that is required to begin and grow scale technological investments. Since many of the projects need large amounts of research and development, this tool will help generate the private capital necessary to support these projects.
This partnership continues the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal to grow the national security innovation base. It also aids in advancing their goal in making the U.S. a world leader in new and innovative technologies
